UPPER PROVIDENCE — It was a very memorable night for the Pope John Paul II boys program.

In more ways than one.

There was the festivity of Senior Recognition Night, where the 12th-grade members of the boys hoop and cheerleading squads were honored prior to Tuesday’s game with Upper Perkiomen. And in their final regular-season appearance on their home court, the Golden Panthers derived a dual benefit from a 66-37 romp over their Pioneer Athletic Conference guests.

With Jamel Stinson and Brent Mahoney leading the way, PJP parted company with a five-game losing slide dating back to a division-leader showdown with Methacton on Jan. 10. The Panthers also took care of business in their bid to repeat as Frontier Division champions, staying atop the bracket with two games left.

“We needed a win bad,” Stinson said against the backdrop of a post-game gathering in one of PJP’s other gyms. “We wanted to come out and get the win. We knew what we had to do ... no matter by how much, or how little, we won.”

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To its credit, an Upper Perk unit still seeking to break into the PAC-10 win column hung close to its hosts for 2-1/2 quarters of play. The Indians (0-12, 3-15) played all even in a 12-12 first quarter, then kept pace for the better part of the second stanza, PJP leading at the break, 25-22.

But with a 32-28 advantage four minutes into the second half, PJP (7-4, 11-8) took charge in a big way. Scoring 12 unanswered points, the Panthers went on to build a 47-30 lead prior to the fourth. They padded that cushion with another 10 points to start the fourth, holding a 57-30 bulge less than two minutes into the fourth.

“We knew we had to play hard and run the ball,” Mahoney said. “In the second half, we came out and turned it up.

“We played real good defense. We believe defense starts everything. We were getting steals, and our shots were falling.”

To commemorate Senior Night, PJP put an all-senior starting lineup out on the floor. And the team’s 12th-graders did their part to make their home-court finale a memorable one.

Stinson had a game-high 23 points along with seven rebounds. Mahoney followed with 18, and James Bleming kicked in with another 15 — nine of them, on 3-point buckets, helped fuel the Panthers’ game-breaking run in the third.

“This is the point in the season where seniors win league games, and they win in the fourth quarter,” PJP head coach Jack Flanagan said.

Chandler Junk provided UP a spark, his team-high 10 points — all coming in the first half — bolstered by a 5-for-7 at the foul line. Joey Marinelli followed with another nine, as did Franklin Kennedy coming off the bench in the second half.

“We played real good in the first half,” head coach Bruce Schmidt noted. “We were going to the offensive board, and we had good shot selection.

“But we couldn’t do anything about Stinson. Good players make tough shots and make plays, and he did that.”

Stinson and Mahoney wowed the hometown crowd with successive dunks in the early part of the fourth quarter. Stinson made his dunk — and drew a successive foul — at the 6:17 mark, completing the traditional 3-point play. Just 15 seconds later, Mahoney completed a fast break by dunking, giving PJP a 57-30 lead.

“I wanted to make sure the ball went in,” Mahoney said of his hanger off the rim.

“Those back-to-back plays were as good as I’ve ever seen,” Flanagan added.

PJP’s happy night was made even happier by the fact it regained sole possession of first place in the Frontier Division. Pottstown (6-5), which shared the top spot with the Panthers for about a week, dropped into a second-place tie with Phoenixville (6-5) by virtue of the Phantoms’ 54-39 victory over the Trojans.

“We knew if we keep teams around, bad things will happen,” Stinson said. “We put the pedal to the metal, trying to exploit all the mismatches. And it worked good for us.”

NOTES

The Indians saw their current losing skid extended to nine games. “We’re sidestepping,” Schmidt said about his team’s fortunes in his inaugural season as head coach. “I thought we’d be doing better. We’re working on the little things like shot selection and helping on defense. I’ve never found fault with our effort.” ... PJP will control its destiny in the final week of the regular season, staging rematches with both Pottstown and Phoenixville. The Panthers had wins over both teams in their first go-rounds.

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